The COP16 isn't expected to break new ground but will take stock of progress since the last summit secured historic assurances for biodiversity. In Cali, countries will put forward national strategies to meet this global objective, and observers hope Colombia as host will provide a model for others to follow. The treaty aims to marshal an international response to the plastic trash choking the environment, from oceans and rivers to mountains and sea ice. Hellen Kahaso Dena, head of Greenpeace's Pan-African Plastics Project, hopes that countries "will agree on a treaty that prioritises reducing plastic production". "There is no time to waste with approaches that will not solve the problem," the activist told AFP.
